Thursday, January 7, 2010

"Closer to the Bone" by Kris Kristofferson

SimpleHonestVisual (but not in a way that screams 'descriptive poetry')FloatingExistingCalm

Musically, there is not much to make this song wildly different from many of it's peers. The soft guitar strumming and banjo picking in the background are things that I have heard before on many occasions. Even the lyrics - very enjoyable, but not wildly different, or pushing of any boundaries, a concept much too revered in much of artistic pursuit these days.

So what, then, makes me want to put this song on repeat, shut my eyes, kick up my feet and float along with it? The person delivering the song. Each person carries their own background and information, and injects it into the way the deliver their craft. The instrumentals and lyrics, however simple and non-revolutionary, carry their own special pull because of the individual experience craftily and honestly poured into the work. I can hear experience in Kristofferson's voice, I can hear the rawness - he is not concealing anything.

In a world full of radicalism for radicalism's sake, a small, simple and honest piece of music such as this is truly refreshing. I can be told time and time again that 'it has been done before,' only to pass of this assertion in favor of being able to listen better. Yes, maybe similar things have been tried before, but locality is what really makes anything. In a world continually globalizing, I am seeing, hearing and feeling the importance of 'think global, act local,' and yes, that even applies to my little music-listening experience.

Seek out all the knowledge you can, as wide-spread as possible. Know what is out there, what is happen. Then, use these things to figure out where you stand and how they can be personal for you, on an individual level. Knowledge may be wide-spread, but experience is not. It happens where you are. Purveyors of virtual entertainment may argue otherwise, but I find it not so. Back to the 'it has been done before,' idea, I offer the idea of contextualization. I have only been on the planet since 1985. 'It' has not happened while I have been around. In addition, 'it' has come out of a whole new set of circumstances, as the way we interact with one another, gather information, live in general, has naturally experienced a whole host of changes, a simple reality of the passing of time, since 'it' first happened. New technologies, political thoughts, sociological structures. To think that a form of art would have the same impact on people now as it did even just 20 years ago is actually entirely ridiculous.

So here is an ode to the experience seekers. I listen to, look at, touch and experience the things that draw me in. Folk music is a new, transformative experience for me. There are legions of people out there for whom jazz dance would be a new, transformative experience. Note the overuse of the word 'experience.' As I see it, the experience delivered is just as, if not more, important than the search for the next most unique and never-seen thing. If this things does not speak to the people observing, what is the point?